House resolution introduced calling for the Black Ribbon Day

A resolution was introduced on July 16th in the U.S. House of Representatives (H. Res. 302) that supports the designation of August 23 as Black Ribbon Day to recognize the victims of Soviet Communist and Nazi regimes.

Lithuanian American and other ethnic Baltic as well as Central and Eastern European groups in the U.S. are launching a campaign, asking their members to contact Congressional Representatives to cosponsor proposed resolution.

Communities are called to take actions by writing personal letters and call the Congress, stressing that repressions committed by totalitarian regimes touched many Americans of Central and Eastern European descent, being directly affected themselves, or having relatives and friends who suffered.

The establishment of a national August 23 Black Ribbon Day would honor and commemorate those who lost their lives, were tortured, deported, lost their property or otherwise suffered under the ravages of the Soviet Communist and Nazi regimes.

At the moment, House Baltic Caucus co-chairman John Shimkus (R-IL) is the only sponsor of the legislation, but other Congressmen are expected to cosponsor it soon, including another Baltic Caucus co-chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA).

Capitol switchboard, for the telephone number of a Member of Congress at: (202) 224-3121.

Proposed resolution:

H. RES. 302

Expressing support for designation of August 23 as ‘Black Ribbon Day’ to recognize the victims of Soviet Communist and Nazi regimes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 16, 2013

Mr. SHIMKUS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

RESOLUTION

Expressing support for designation of August 23 as ‘Black Ribbon Day’ to recognize the victims of Soviet Communist and Nazi regimes.

Whereas, on August 13, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued a joint declation ‘of certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they based their hopes for a better future for the world’ and ‘the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them’ and that the people of countries may live in freedom;

Whereas the United States Government has actively advocated for and continues to support the principles by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations General Assembly resolution 260 (III) of December 9, 1948;

Whereas Captive Nations Week, signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959, raised public awareness of the oppression of nations under the control of Communist and other nondemocratic governments;

Whereas the European Parliament resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism of April 2, 2009, and the ‘Black Ribbon Day’ resolution adopted by the Parliament of Canada on November 30, 2009, establish a day of remembrance for victims of Communist and Nazi regimes to remember and commemorate their victims;

Whereas the extreme forms of totalitarian rule practiced by the Soviet Communist and Nazi regimes led to premeditated and vast crimes committed against millions of human beings and their basic and inalienable rights on a scale unseen before in history;

Whereas fleeing the Nazi and Soviet Communist crimes, hundreds of thousands of people sought and found refuge in the United States;

Whereas August 23 would be an appropriate date to designate as ‘Black Ribbon Day’ to remember and never forget the terror millions of citizens in Central and Eastern Europe experienced for more than 40 years by ruthless military, economic, and political repression of the people through arbitrary executions, mass arrests, deportations, the suppression of free speech, confiscation of private property, and the destruction of cultural and moral identity and civil society, all of which deprived the vast majority of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe of their basic human rights and dignity, separating them from the democratic world by means of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall; and

Whereas the memories of Europe’s tragic past cannot be forgotten in order to honor the victims, condemn the perpetrators, and lay the foundation for reconciliation based on truth and remembrance: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports the designation of ‘Black Ribbon Day’ to recognize the victims of Soviet Communist and Nazi regimes.

Expressing support for designation of August 23 as ‘Black Ribbon Day’ to recognize the victims of Soviet Communist and Nazi regimes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 16, 2013

Mr. SHIMKUS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

RESOLUTION

Expressing support for designation of August 23 as ‘Black Ribbon Day’ to recognize the victims of Soviet Communist and Nazi regimes.

Whereas, on August 13, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued a joint declation ‘of certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they based their hopes for a better future for the world’ and ‘the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them’ and that the people of countries may live in freedom;

Whereas the United States Government has actively advocated for and continues to support the principles by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations General Assembly resolution 260 (III) of December 9, 1948;

Whereas Captive Nations Week, signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959, raised public awareness of the oppression of nations under the control of Communist and other nondemocratic governments;

Whereas the European Parliament resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism of April 2, 2009, and the ‘Black Ribbon Day’ resolution adopted by the Parliament of Canada on November 30, 2009, establish a day of remembrance for victims of Communist and Nazi regimes to remember and commemorate their victims;

Whereas the extreme forms of totalitarian rule practiced by the Soviet Communist and Nazi regimes led to premeditated and vast crimes committed against millions of human beings and their basic and inalienable rights on a scale unseen before in history;

Whereas fleeing the Nazi and Soviet Communist crimes, hundreds of thousands of people sought and found refuge in the United States;

Whereas August 23 would be an appropriate date to designate as ‘Black Ribbon Day’ to remember and never forget the terror millions of citizens in Central and Eastern Europe experienced for more than 40 years by ruthless military, economic, and political repression of the people through arbitrary executions, mass arrests, deportations, the suppression of free speech, confiscation of private property, and the destruction of cultural and moral identity and civil society, all of which deprived the vast majority of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe of their basic human rights and dignity, separating them from the democratic world by means of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall; and

Whereas the memories of Europe’s tragic past cannot be forgotten in order to honor the victims, condemn the perpetrators, and lay the foundation for reconciliation based on truth and remembrance: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports the designation of ‘Black Ribbon Day’ to recognize the victims of Soviet Communist and Nazi regimes.